A Dress For Each Girl
by RyuravenFox
Summary: A short fic with mtf Mercury, taking place somewhere along volume 2. Because there needs to be more sfw fics with trans characters.
1. Chapter 1

**A Dress For Each Girl**

Mercury trailed behind Cinder and Emerald as they searched for a dress they would wear at the party. The girls weren't paying much attention to Mercury, who watched them with envy.

Cinder smiled as she found a pink dress covered in glitter, and held it in front of Emerald. "I think you'll look lovely in this."

Emerald responded with a very unladylike sound, which made Mercury chuckle. Noticing this, Emerald added, "But Mercury seems to like it. Maybe he should try it on."

"I don't think there are any dresses in my size." Mercury said playfully, trying to ignore the pain the statement brought.

"Oh really?" Emerald narrowed her eyes. "Take a look at what you're wearing."

She was using her semblance. But despite knowing that, Mercury couldn't help but smile when looking down to see the dress. It had been so long since she had worn a piece of clothing that actually matched her true gender.

 _Mercury looked in the mirror, pleased with the way she looked. She had tried on dresses before, but this time she had gone all out and put on makeup. For a first time, it really didn't look bad. She sat down on the floor and stared at the mirror, simply enjoying her reflection._

 _"Mercury!" Mercury froze at the sound of her father's voice. He wasn't supposed to get home until five! She frantically looked at the clock. It was past five. How had she not noticed time pass? She hurriedly got to her feet, trying to decide what to do first, take off the dress or the makeup?_

 _The door swung open and the scent of alcohol entered the room, along with Marcus Black. He froze when he saw her. A moment passed in silence. Marcus stared at his child, and Mercury tried not to panic. Finally, words came from her father's mouth. "What do you think you're doing?"_

 _Mercury wrecked her brain, trying to think of an excuse. "Um, well… you know how women sometimes have a better chance at getting close to their target without being suspected? I just thought I'd try to see if I could fake it well enough! And if someone were to see me on a mission, they'd go looking for a woman instead of a man, so it'd be the perfect disguise!" Mercury prayed her reasoning would be enough._

 _Marcus leaned back for a spell, taking in what Mercury just said. Then, without a warning, he grabbed Mercury's hair. "If I wanted you to be the type of assassin to dress up on the job I would've taught you to do so myself! I have a son, not a daughter!" He ripped the dress to shreds, leaving mercury shaking and crying in his underwear. "Look at what you've done! You pretend to be a woman for one minute and it already has you acting like one! Men don't cry! Now go wash your face! I don't want to see a son of mine looking like a bitch!"_

"Mercury?" Mercury snapped out of the memory, and noticed the worried looks Emerald and Cinder gave her.

"Oh, sorry. I got lost in thought."

"You're crying." Emerald said, her tone carrying none of her usual venom. Mercury brought a hand to her cheek, finding there were indeed tears. The girls exchanged a glance, and Emerald began to leave. "I'll be… over there."

Cinder approached Mercury, who made quick work of wiping away her tears. "Is there anything I should know about?" Cinder asked in a gentle voice.

Mercury shook her head. "I just recalled a bad memory. It's no big deal."

"Are you sure? If there's anything that might cause trouble for the mission, I need to know."

"It's just something that happened when I was… maybe ten, it won't affect the mission."

Cinder placed a hand on Mercury's shoulder. "If you say so." She turned back towards the rack, searching among the dresses. "I don't have a problem with you wearing a dress, so long as you don't stand out." Cinder pulled a large size of the pink dress from the rack, holding it in front of Mercury. "Pink doesn't look too bad on you."

Mercury smiled, taking the dress from her as she walked of to continue her search. Cinder didn't care about what Mercury wore. All that mattered to her was successfully completing the mission. Mercury headed over to the fitting room. Maybe one day she'd be able to tell Cinder. But until then, it was nice to have a place that actually resembled home.


	2. Chapter 2

I did not expect to make a second chapter, but here it is.

 **Chapter 2**

Mercury hadn't dared to wear her pink dress to the dance. But afterwards, when all the students had gone to bed, she put it on. The light color complemented her skin, and the layered fabric from the hip down made her figure appear more feminine. She admired her appearance for a moment, then wondered if she should put on makeup. It was late, past midnight, and there were classes the next day. Still, even if she missed a few classes, she likely wouldn't be the only one, and she doubted Cinder would care.

She decided on only mascara and eyeshade for the night, and was halfway done when there was a knock on the door. Did she imagine that? There was no way anyone would want to see her at this hour.

"Mercury? We decided we wanted to—" Mercury panicked. Not only had Emerald showed herself into her room, but the bathroom door hadn't been closed. She and Emerald stared at each other for several long seconds, and then Emerald burst into laughter.

"Emerald, be quiet!" Cinder hissed, her words followed by the sound of a closing door.

Emerald stifled her laughter to giggles, and snapped a picture with her scroll. "Oh, I am never deleting this one."

"What is so fu—Oh." Cinder observed the situation for a moment, then placed her hand on Emerald's shoulder. "There is a chair in the room." Emerald took the hint, moving to one of the chairs in Mercury's room with a huge grin on her face. "Mercury," Cinder started, "Join us when you're done here, we need to go over something before bed. Try not to take too long." She then closed the bathroom door, leaving Mercury to herself.

She exhaled a shaky breath. Out of all the things that could happen… Still, it was much better than the last time she got caught dressing up. She looked at her reflection. Part of her was afraid to show her face again. Part of her didn't want to take off the dress. Yeah, even if Emerald laughed, it wasn't that bad. There even was a guy who had worn a dress to the dance. She could survive tonight. Well, if she was going to go out there, she might as well finish her makeup.

It couldn't have taken longer than a minute, but it had felt like an eternity. Mercury's heart hammered in her chest, and she took a deep breath. She opened the bathroom door and sat down on her bed, not quite daring to look at the girls on the chairs. Emerald tried but failed to completely hide her renewed laughter.

"… I wanted to discuss something with you two." Cinder started. "I had mentioned earlier that my night had been a bit more exciting than planned."

"If you can call Mercury in a dress exciting." Emerald giggled.

"Quiet. Someone saw me tonight. She caused no trouble for me, of course, but it might be wise to keep an eye on her. I had not expected a student to be so vigilant on the night of the dance, and chances are she'll be looking out from now on."

"But you said it was nothing to worry about." Mercury said.

"I just thought we would return the favor and look for her. We do need someone to help us out at the vital festival, after all. I think Roman will be glad to hear we're choosing 'little red' with the scythe."

"Her again?" Emerald commented.

"Yes. So I want you two to keep an eye out for her. Get to know her and her team. We'll see to give them a special role at the grand stage."

Mercury chuckled. "I think I'm gonna love that show."

"Make sure you dress up for the occasion." Emerald burst out in giggles.

"Get out of my room!" Mercury snapped at her.

"Calm down, the both of you." Cinder said curtly. "I just wanted to say this in case you would run into the girls tomorrow morning. We should go to sleep now."

Emerald got up, a smile still present on her features. "I can't believe you actually put on makeup too." Before she could get so much as another dirty look thrown at her, Emerald slipped out of the room. Mercury sighed. She didn't _have_ to keep on laughing at her the entire time. Wearing the dress had relieved her of some dysphoria, but if she still looked too much like a man to stop Emerald's laughter…

Cinder stood up, walked over to Mercury, giving him a curious look. "You're actually quite skilled with makeup."

Mercury felt her blood rush to her cheeks. "Uh, thanks?" Cinder never laughed. Maybe it was just Emerald being a jerk. Maybe there was a chance for her to pass.

"It's almost a shame you didn't dress up like this at the dance." Cinder continued, smiling softly.

"We could still dance now, if you want." The words left Mercury's mouth before she could stop them.

"Some other time, perhaps. I'd like to sleep now. Make sure you don't stay up too long yourself." Cinder gave her one of her trademark smiles, and turned with a sway of her hips. Mercury stared at her as she walked out of the room and closed the door. That almost hypnotizing swaying of her hips as she walked… how she wished she could do that too. Well, it wouldn't hurt to try.


End file.
